June 7, 2025
Day 27 Port Stanley to Blenheim
Average speed: 12 mph
A good day. I left the Kettle Creek Inn at about 7:30, heading east out of downtown. No ease in to the start today. Right away there was a hill, a small one, but a real wake up push. My legs felt good, but it takes a good 3-5 miles to warm up to a cadence that feels comfortable.
The weather was cooperating. The sun was out, but cool air and a gentle breeze kept the temperature cool. That was the case for pretty much the whole morning. In the early afternoon, things heated up, but not too bad.
The difference today was the route. It was a day of long, straight stretches. First a seven mile stretch leaving Port Stanley, not unusual. Then a 10 mile stretch, straight, in lane. Again, not unusual. I took a brief stop in Wallaceburg, the first sign of significant civilization. I enjoyed a great breakfast sandwich from Tall Tales.
I checked the maps and the Garmin, and the next leg was a 26 miles straight stretch. The longest of the the entire ride to date. Twists and turns can help break up the ride and define some short term goals. In this case, I just chunked it up into five mile tranches and tracked progress. This stretch was also in lane. All of the shoulders up to this point, and for the rest of the day, were rough gravel, and therefore I was biking in traffic. As I’ve said, this increases the mental load since you have to focus on staying tight with the edge of the gravel and track traffic coming up from behind with the mirror. If you see oncoming traffic that will coincide with approaching traffic, you have to try to bike tighter to the edge or go into the gravel. Fortunately the cars were mostly polite and traffic was light, so it wasn’t too bad. But you do still come across some clueless drivers who don’t give you much space.
The scenery was farmland, as it has been most of the way along the coast, outside of the close to shore roads and ports. I don’t know what’s been grown, but I believe when I see a field of mixed green and yellow plants it’s canola. I saw sheep for, I think, the first time the entire trip. That was new. I smelled a strong odor of something dead and sure enough, there in the field to the right were about a dozen Turkey Vultures, who mostly scattered when I stopped to take a picture. (Thankfully we have these birds since they clean up a lot of the dead meat that would lead to other issues if it just decayed in place).
Riding along, you see lots of Red-winged Blackbirds. It could be the the most common bird you see. Either them or Robins. Well, as I was riding, I saw the shadow of a Red-winged Blackbird hovering above by head! I must have been passing a nest, and this guy was trying to intimidate me. It worked. I was ducking down (even though I’m wearing a helmet) and speeding up, so he stopped harassing me.
Once in awhile you see some incredible farm equipment. These machines are enormous, with wheels ten feet high and / or lateral arms that stretch for 10 yards on each side. Huge. Of course I have no idea what they are used for. I’m just impressed by the technology and the specificity of their function. I saw one coming down the highway on the other side and, as usual, tried to turn my handlebar GoPro to capture the video. I screwed up and the GoPro fell off the bike, into the road right as the machine was taking a left turn. I biked ahead of the turn and looked back as the farmer made the turn, looking at the downed camera and thinking it was going to get crushed. The farmer moved, in this gigantic piece of equipment, around the stupid camera and avoided destroying it. I’m sure he had some choice words for me. After he was gone, I went and picked it up. A broken clip was the damage,f but fortunately I have an extra one (from the Walmart in “Ti”).
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After 50ish miles, I made it to Ridgetown, the original destination, but changed it to an Airbnb in Blenheim after the negative reviews of the Ridgetown Inn. Ridgetown itself is decently large. I stopped at a pizza place at the edge of town for lunch, I ordered a quesadilla. Why I did not order pizza at a pizza place is beyond me. The chicken in the quesadilla was smothered in barbecue sauce. No es bueno. No me gusta. I’m surprised that in a rural town, north of Lake Erie in Canada, you can’t get authentic Mexican food.
The heart of Ridgetown is pretty busy. All the typical stores, coffee shops, pharmacies, and the stop I needed, a grocery store. My Airbnb, about four miles away, was on a farm, so I wanted to stock up. Everyone I encountered had a smile and friendly greeting. After stocking the bike with food, I headed towards Blenheim to meet Ken and Tami.
Out of Ridgetown, back to the edge of farm country and down a dirt road, I came to the Airbnb. It was pretty apparent that this would be a different experience than any I’ve had to date. Ken met me as I rolled in. He was extremely nice and proud of what he built. The room is a small shack but very nicely done (I think it’s smaller than my father’s workshop shed in back of our house). The room had all the amenities I needed - a fridge, microwave (to heat up the uneaten barbecue quesadilla), smart TV (which broadcasted the Red Sox - Yankee game), and a nice porch. And it’s surrounded by farms.
They also provided tons of food in the Airbnb - cereal, bread for toast (more appliances located in another separate shed), chips, s’mores kits, bananas, soda, water and juice in the fridge - a very thoughtful spread, especially since getting back to Ridgetown for anything would be quite a ride. Thank you for being so thoughtful, Ken and Tami.
The downside though, is the bathroom is an outhouse set up, so you have to travel about 10 yards, straight out the front door to get to it. It’s a new addition (apparently it used to be just a sun shower). Not a big deal. The hot water heater for the shower didn’t cut it, so it was cold shower, but that builds character.
A peaceful afternoon on the porch, watching the sun set in the sky over the fields with the birds singing, made it a very nice experience.
Today's ride: 54 miles (87 km)
Total: 1,061 miles (1,708 km)
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